Strength
by Laqueta Okami
Summary: Set after the events in Found. Sam is having trouble dealing with what happened, so he seeks help from the one person he trusts to help him no matter what. Warnings: Spoilers, M/M, fluff, slight ooc-ness


Warnings: Spoiler alert, m/m pairing, fluff, slight ooc  
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: Los Angeles  
Summary: Set after the events in Found. Sam is having trouble dealing with what happened, so he seeks help from the one person he trusts to help him no matter what.

A/N: I just watched the most recent episode of NCIS: LA last night and it inspired this. It is has not been beta'd so I apologize for any mistakes.

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G. Callen was restless. Normally he would spend his nights not actually sleeping but rather researching for work, or learning new languages, or working out. This night was different though. He had actually crawled into bed at the humane hour of 11 pm and fell asleep.

A few minutes ago however he had abruptly woken up. Something had set off his senses, but he couldn't figure out what it was. So he was sitting up in his bed, fully alert and waiting for something to happen.

He bolted out of bed, grabbed his gun off the nightstand, and was quietly making his way to his living room in seconds. The floor had creaked in such a way that was only possible if someone were walking on it.

Upon entering the room he spotted a dark figured simply sitting on his couch, staring at the wall opposite the doorway. As he quietly approached it, the figure spoke.

"Put the gun away G, it's just me."

Callen sighed before lowering his gun and walking the rest of the way to the couch.

"Jeez Sam, you should know better than to sneak into a man's house. Especially when you know said man is armed."

Special Agent Sam Hanna, for that was who was seated on Callen's couch at the horrid hour of one in the morning, chuckled before responding.

"It's not sneaking if I have the key. You gave me a set of keys a month ago, remember?"

Callen laughs lightly before gently placing his hand on the back of Sam's neck.

"I remember. Now what brings you to my humble abode at one in the morning?"

Sam sighed and hunched in on himself slightly before the room falls into an uneasy silence.

Callen bows his head momentarily in understanding. The silence stretches for another minute before Callen utters his own sigh, takes his hand from Sam's neck, and walks around to the front of the couch.

He lays his hand on Sam's shoulder and waits for him to look up before speaking. As soon as they make eye contact Callen can see the torment and anguish wallowing just under the surface in Sam's eyes.

With a barely audible "come on", and a light tug on Sam's arm, they are both slowly trudging back the way Callen came.

Upon entering the bedroom Callen lets go of Sam's arm to set his gun back down on the nightstand before turning back to Sam.

Sam has already taken the initiative and removed his shirt and quickly disposed of his belt and pants, leaving him in just his boxers. He neatly folds up his clothes and sets them beside the dresser. He then turns to Callen and looks him in the eye before returning his gaze to the floor and releasing another sigh.

Callen takes the couple of steps to Sam and gently redirects him to the bed. He helps him under the covers before crawling in beside him.

They lay side by side silently for a few minutes until Callen reaches up to Sam face and puts a hand under his chin. He puts a slight pressure under it, forcing Sam to look him in the eye.

"What's wrong Sam?" He knows the answer, but he also knows Sam needs to actually say it out loud.

Sam continues to silently look into Callens eyes before silently uttering three words.

"It's my fault…"

Callen lets go of his chin to instead stroke his cheek comfortingly, encouraging him to continue.

"If I had seen that other guy… If I had been carrying an extra gun… If I had searched harder…"

At this point Sam started shaking slightly, clearly trying to hold back the tears that wanted to fall.

Callen switches his grip to Sam's shoulder, gripping it tightly but not hard enough to hurt.

"It's not your fault. You don't have eyes in the back of your head, if you had been carrying an extra gun you may not have made it in time, and you searched as hard as you could."

Sam shook his head violently before taking a shuddering breathe and stating vehemently "Dom is dead because of me! It is my fault G, I was the one that was suppose to be protecting him!"

Callen gave the smallest shake of his head. It hurt him to Sam in so much pain. Sam was always there for him, was always the strong one, but this time he couldn't be strong anymore. He was taking Dom's death harder than everyone else.

Callen forced Sam to look at him again and soothingly ran his thumb over Sam's cheek.

"Sam, it is not your fault. You were there for him right until the very end, and you did everything in your power to help him. It's alright, you can just let go now. You don't need to be strong for him anymore, just relax and let someone else be strong for you for a change."

At this something snaps inside of Sam and he just can't hold it anymore, he started to cry. Tears flow freely down his face, which he had burrowed into Callens shoulder, and sobs wrack his body. Callen doesn't seem put off in the slightest and simply holds him, rubbing circle on his back.

They stay curled against each other for an undetermined amount of time before Sam seems to run out of tears and the sobs slowly become hiccups before become deep breathes.

Sam pulls back a little bit looking at Callen and whispers "Thank you."

Callen gently smiles at him before placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "It's what I'm here for Sam. Now how about we try to get some sleep?"

Sam gives him a small smile before quickly kissing him and then laying his head back against Callens shoulder.

"Love you."

"Love you too." Callen whispers, loud enough for Sam to hear, before wrapping his arms around Sam, snuggling deeper into the blankets and falling into a peaceful, uninterrupted sleep.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. For those of you who are reading my other fics and waiting for updates I have great news! I will be updating within the next week or two for the following stories: My Fault, The Most Dangerous Poison, and Holy Family Dinner. I am simply waiting for my beta to proof read My Fault, and I need to type up Poison. Holy Family Dinner will take a bit longer as I haven't completed the chapter I'm working on yet. They will all be up soon though!


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